The present invention relates to exercise methods and apparatus and more specifically, to unique arrangements between arm supporting members and leg supporting members on various types of exercise equipment, including elliptical exercise machines.
Exercise equipment has been designed to facilitate various exercise motions, many of which incorporate both arm movements and leg movements. Examples of such equipment include elliptical exercise machines (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,242,343, 5,423,729, 5,540,637, 5,725,457, and 5,792,026); free form exercise machines (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,290,211 and 5,401,226); rider exercise machines (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,603,486, 5,695,434, and 5,997,446); glider/strider exercise machines (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,940,233 and 5,795,268); stepper exercise machines (U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,690); bicycle exercise machines (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,188,030 and 4,509,742); and various other, miscellaneous exercise machines (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,869,494 and 5,039,088). These patents are incorporated herein by reference as examples of suitable applications for the present invention.
Generally speaking, the foregoing exercise machines have arm supporting members and leg supporting members which are synchronized to facilitate a coordinated xe2x80x9ctotal bodyxe2x80x9d exercise motion. The synchronized motion is considered advantageous to the extent that it makes the equipment relatively easy to use. On the other hand, the perceived quality of exercise tends to exceed the actual quality of exercise because the arms typically perform very little work. In industry terminology, the arms are generally xe2x80x9calong for the ride.xe2x80x9d
In contrast to the foregoing machines, other exercise machines have been developed to provide independent upper body exercise and lower body exercise. One notable example is the NordicTrack ski machine (U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,102). On machines of this type, both the perceived quality of exercise and the actual quality of exercise are relatively greater. The trade-off is that many people consider such machines relatively difficult to use, due to the independent nature of the arm motions and the leg motions. Recognizing that each of the foregoing types of total body exercise machines suffers certain shortcomings, room for improvement remains with respect to total body exercise machines.
The present invention provides unique methods and apparatus for total body exercise. In one sense, the present invention may be described as encouraging one or more arm supporting members to be synchronized relative to respective leg supporting member(s) while allowing relative movement between the arm supporting members and respective leg supporting members in response to the application of force by a user. The present invention may also be said to encourage one or more arm supporting members to be synchronized relative to respective leg supporting member(s) while subjecting the arm supporting members to resistance which is applied and/or measured independent of the leg supporting members.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a frame, left and right leg supporting members, and left and right arm supporting members. Each leg supporting member is part of a linkage assembly designed to accommodate foot motion through a generally elliptical path, and each arm supporting member is pivotally connected to the frame and/or a respective leg supporting member to accommodate hand motion through a generally reciprocal path. A separate resilient member is interconnected between each arm supporting member and either the frame or a respective leg supporting member to bias the arm supporting member to move through a particular path in response to movement the respective leg supporting member. As a result, each arm supporting member remains synchronized with a respective leg supporting member in the absence of user force applied against the arm supporting member. Alternative embodiments of the present invention may be implemented with different numbers and types of leg supporting members and/or arm supporting members.
The preferred embodiment also includes a resistance device to provide adjustable resistance to movement of the leg supporting members and the arm supporting members, and sensors for detecting user force exerted against respective arm supporting members. In one desired mode of operation, resistance to movement of the leg supporting members is set, and the resistance is subsequently adjusted as a function of user force applied against the arm supporting members. As a result, upper body work can increase or decrease without affecting the amount of lower body work being performed by the user. Alternative embodiments of the present invention may be implemented with this xe2x80x9cresponsive resistancexe2x80x9d arrangement to the exclusion of the resilient members discussed in the preceding paragraph, or with the resilient members to the exclusion of the xe2x80x9cresponsive resistancexe2x80x9d arrangement.
The present invention may also be described in terms of distinguishing between work performed by a user""s arms and work performed by a user""s legs. For example, a controller may periodically sense the force exerted by a user""s arms and display the amount of upper body work being performed, either alone or in comparison to lower body work and/or target levels of work. The same controller may also adjust the leg resistance device based upon the work being performed by the user""s arms (as discussed above) and/or the total work being performed, for example.
Certain embodiments of the present invention are described in greater detail below and/or shown in the accompanying figures. However, the present invention is not limited to these particular embodiments, nor even to the types of machines on which they are shown. Moreover, the present invention is applicable to different combinations of force receiving and/or limb moving members, and additional variations and/or advantages will become more apparent from the detailed description that follows.